‘Please be interesting’ is the demeaning new online dating trend men just can’t get enough of

Scroll through any modern dating site or app and you’re likely to come across a jumble of buzzwords and phrases used by almost every guy on the site:

I’m 6’1″ because apparently that matters

Looking for a partner in crime

That’s my niece, not my kid

But the worst trope by far, popping up in every few profiles, is a variation on the most demeaning phrase ever: “please be interesting.”

https://twitter.com/Velvetwavez/status/762678738307780608

It can take different forms, sometimes arranging itself into “please be able to hold a conversation.”

The presumption that women are vapid idiots and men are in search of an intellectual unicorn is upsetting enough when it stays dormant in a guy’s mind, manifesting itself subconsciously in the form of negs and backhanded compliments.

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I hate tinder bc 90% of people put "be interesting please" but the only thing they have written before that is where they were born

— Haunter (@Haunterzlol) May 5, 2015

But an overt “I THINK WOMEN ARE MORONS NOT WORTHY OF MY TIME” banner is so cringe, I can’t tell if I’m angry, annoyed, amused, or filled with secondhand embarrassment.

https://twitter.com/mariahdalton47/status/730563377857171456

First of all, almost every single woman I know is incredibly interesting and I can name countless dudes who have the personality of a literal Adidas sandal.

But beyond that, the deep-seated idea that most women are vain, self-absorbed and uninteresting is just that: a long-held belief by men, propelled by (male-driven) media. How many books did you read as a teenager that focused on a guy uninterested by all the vapid sluts in his school except for the one manic pixie dream girl who’ll take his life in a new direction of action and adventure? Because I, unfortunately, read a lot.

Dismissing most women out of hand as uninteresting or — even worse — “unable to hold a conversation” as it is untrue. It does have one purpose though: it tells us exactly who not to match with.